What would happen if Harrogate was hit by a hydrogen bomb?

More than 16,000 people would be killed if a hydrogen bomb hit Harrogate, a computer programme has predicted.

North Korean officials have claimed the country carried out an underground hydrogen bomb test this week.

The computer programme, Nukemap, predicts 16,410 fatalities and 20,980 injuries – if the bomb has a yield of 10 kilotons, as the country claims.

If, in the unlikely event the bomb was dropped in the town centre, the radius of the nuclear fireball would reach a diameter of 200 metres , causing fatalities, taking out the town centre and many of the town’s landmarks such as the Valley Gardens.

The results of the computer programme show that the aftermath of the blast would be similar to the 1984 television show Threads - a 1984 docudrama account of nuclear war and its effects on a city.

The air blast radius would reach as up to 0.69 kilometres. The pressure of the blast in this area would cause most buildings to collapse and widespread fatalities.

Radiation would reach almost 1.25 kilometres and without medical treatment, there would be between 50 per cent and 90 per cent mortality from acute effects alone. Dying would take between several hours and several weeks.

People more than 1.4 kilometres away would suffer third degree burns. Areas such as Knaresborough would also be affected.

Graph colour code:

Yellow - Fireball radius: 200 m (0.12 km²)

Maximum size of the nuclear fireball; relevance to lived effects depends on height of detonation. If it touches the ground, the amount of radioactive fallout is significantly increased.

Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation. 100% probability for 3rd degree burns at this yield is 8.4 cal/cm2.